January 29, 2021, 11:55am
It’s been a whirlwind month for Amanda Gorman: in the nine days since the 22-year-old poet delivered her original poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, she’s been announced to perform at the Super Bowl; signed to IMG Models; and her two forthcoming books, The Hill We Climb and Other Poems and Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem, are currently the number one and two best-selling books on Amazon.
Now, due to increased demand for her work (obviously!), Viking Books for Young Readers—an imprint of Penguin Random House—has announced they will be printing one million hardcover copies of each of these books, as well as one million copies of a recently announced special edition of “The Hill We Climb” with an foreword by Oprah Winfrey. Said Madeline McIntosh, chief executive officer of Penguin Random House U.S., “What we saw on stage [at the inauguration] was a 22-year-old woman who put together words that got an entire nation to quiet down and listen. It was unifying. She is going to be a cultural force for a long time.”
It’s exciting what response poetry can garner when it’s given an institutional spotlight. You’ll have to wait until March 15 for the “The Hill We Climb” special edition, and September 21 for Gorman’s other two books—but in the meantime, you can read the full text of Gorman’s inaugural poem here.